Abstract:

One purpose of this study was to determine those elements of effective teaching which were held in common by researchers in the field of teacher effectiveness. A review of the work of sixteen research studies and reviews of studies from 1984 to 1990 clearly identified clarity of instruction, task orientation, use of varied and appropriate instructional strategies, positive teacher-student interaction, appropriate and timely feedback and evaluation, and monitoring student behavior as producing higher student achievement and more desirable student attitude and conduct. Assignment of homework, having high expectations for students, and using a range of questioning techniques were identified by only. 38% of the research studies, but were so strongly identified that these elements were also included in the study.The second phase of the study involved contacting school districts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio which contained schools that had been honored as effective schools by the United States Department of Education School Recognition Program and districts identified by a table of random numbers which contained no schools which had been so honored. Teacher evaluation instruments and instructions to evaluators were requested from each district. Ninety-three usable replies were received. The evaluation instruments and instructions to evaluators were analyzed to ascertain whether the identified elements of effective teaching were included in the documents.The following conclusions were drawn:1. Professional literature does identify elements of effective teaching which have been frequently supported by research.2. Identified elements of effective teaching which produce higher student achievement and more desirable student attitude and conduct do appear on evaluation instruments and instructions to evaluators in the midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.3. Sufficient evidence does not exist to conclude that the identified elements of effective teaching appear more often in evaluation instruments and instructions to evaluators in school districts which have school designated as effective schools than from comparable school districts which have not achieved such designation.